38 Mo. App. 266 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1889
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an action by a wife against her husband for maintenance. The trial in the circuit court resulted in favor of the wife, and the defendant was ordered to pay her twenty-five dollars per month. From this judgment or decree, the defendant has appealed, and complains of the admission of incompetent and irrelevant evidence, and that the decree was not authorized by the evidence. It is not pur purpose, nor do we deem it necessary, to spread upon the records of this court the details of the domestic troubles of the parties, which finally culminated in their separation. The following synopsis of the evidence we think sufficient: The parties were married on the twelfth day of October, 1887, and lived
A careful reading of the record convinces us, that the plaintiff left the'defendant’s house with his consent, and that he knew that the relations between his wife and his mother and sisters were of a very disagreeable character, and that this condition of affairs prevented his wife’s recovery, and had rendered her very unhappy. After the plaintiff left, it would seem that the defendant submitted to the opposing influence of his mother and sisters, and this, aided by one or two stormy interviews and some correspondence between the parties, induced the defendant to write a very caustic and cruel letter to his wife, which contained the following: “In future, I don’t wish to receive or hold any communication with you, or any of your family, of any kind.”
The evidence, as preserved in the record, does not present a case of unjustifiable abandonment unless it was the duty of the plaintiff, under the circumstances, to return voluntarily to the house of the defendant’s mother. It is the duty of the wife to follow the fortunes of her husband, and be content'with such a house and style of living as his means will justify, and the law will not countenance her abandonment of the husband on account of his poverty, or because the manner of living which he has seen fit to adopt is not in accord with his wife’s ideas on the subject. But the law contemplates that the husband shall furnish his wife with more than food and shelter. Men of ordinary compassion do that much for their domestic animals. The husband must furnish his wife with a home, in which
The defendant’s counsel insist that the case of Messenger v. Messenger, 56 Mo. 329, and that of Lindenschmidt v. Lindenschmidt, 29 Mo. App. 295, declare a different rule. In the Messenger case Judge Naptow said, “that the wife is bound to follow the fortunes of her husband and to live where he chooses to live, and in the style and manner which he may adopt, and such will be the determination of a wife who is devoted to her husband, and who does not assume to be wiser than he is.” The language of this decision is very broad, but it must be read and considered in the light of the particular facts of the case in j udgment. The defendant had been unfortunate in business and had lost his wealth. His wife separated from him without his consent, and afterwards refused to live with- him on account of his poverty, or because he was unable to support' her in their former style of living. Judge Napton held that this was no abandonment of the wife, but was an abandonment of the husband, and it was to this state of facts, he applied the language quoted. The facts in the Lindensehmidt case were quite similar to those of the case at bar, and we think the conclusion, arrived at by us, is sustained and authorized by the
There is a line of authorities in other states, to which our attention has been called by the plaintiff’s counsel, to the effect that the wife is not so far under the control and dominion of the husband, as to be forced by him to return to a house where her health would likely be jeopardized or impaired. As the defendant did not ask his wife to return, and did not promise her better treatment if she did return, it will not be necessary for us to discuss that view of the case.
The defendant objected to any evidence touching the character of plaintiff’s treatment by his mother and sisters, and to conversations between them during this absence. We think these matters were proper subjects of inquiry, especially as plaintiff’s evidence tended to show that the defendant was fully advised of the domestic troubles, and neglected to protect her. All conversations between the plaintiff and the members of her family seem to have been excluded whenever objected to. There was some incompetent evidence, inadvertently admitted, on both sides, but it was not properly objected to, and its admission could not possibly have prejudiced the case, or changed the result. We think the conclusion arrived at by the trial judge was right, and, as we find no reversible error in the record, the judgment will be affirmed.